RTTNews reports that China retained its benchmark rates for the fifth straight month as the economy continued to log robust recovery.

The one-year loan prime rate was retained at 3.85 percent and the five-year loan prime rate was maintained at 4.65 percent. The interest rates were expected to be retained today as the rate on its medium-term lending facility or MLF was maintained early this month.

The loan prime rate is fixed monthly based on the submission of 18 banks, though Beijing has influence over the rate-setting. This new lending rate replaced the central bank's traditional benchmark lending rate in August 2019.

With the economy now largely back to its pre-virus path and the People's Bank of China appearing reluctant to keep monetary policy loose for longer than needed, the next move in the LPR is likely to be an increase early next year, Julian Evans-Pritchard, an economist at Capital Economics said.